Basketball is a popular sport which is played in gymnasiums, playgrounds, home driveways and alleys by people of all ages. It is played with a basketball and at least one basketball goal which is a predetermined distance from the ground. The goal is secured to a backboard which in turn is secured to a pole, suspended from a ceiling or secured to a wall. In home use, the backboard is often secured to a garage wall over the garage door.
The standard height of a basketball goal is 10 feet from the ground. This is too high for young people who are not tall enough to throw the basketball through the goal at that height, however, so a goal must be provided at a lower height for those people to play the game.
Adjustable height basketball goals and backboards have been disclosed which permit the goal to be placed at one height for tall players, and another height for shorter players. Such adjustable apparatus sometimes includes four fixed length supporting arms which suspend the backboard a predetermined distance from a wall or the like, at least one variable length arm which fixes the position of the backboard at a desired height, and an array of structural supports interconnected among the fixed length arms.
One problem with such adjustable backboard apparatus is that it is quite heavy and difficult to adequately secure to a home garage wall or the like, particularly by home users. In some cases, it might be necessary to provide added support in the wall to which the apparatus is attached if the apparatus were to put excessive strain on the wall.
Another problem is that the high number of pieces of material needed to make such apparatus work adds cost to the system. Such added cost is particularly undesirable in the home consumer market.
Yet another problem is that the number of structural cross braces needed for such systems makes home assembly difficult and time-consuming. Thus, there is a need for adjustable height basketball goal and backboard apparatus which is relatively light in weight, easy to secure to a home garage wall or the like without having to add extra support for the wall, easy for consumers to assemble and install, and relatively simple and inexpensive.
Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide new and improved adjustable height basketball goal and backboard apparatus.
Another object of this invention is to provide new and improved adjustable height basketball goal and backboard apparatus which is relatively light in weight and may be secured to a home garage wall or the like without requiring added support for the garage wall.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide new and improved adjustable height basketball goal and backboard apparatus which is relatively easy to assemble and install.
A still further object of this invention is to provide new and improved adjustable height basketball goal and backboard apparatus which is relatively inexpensive.